Trump supporters invoke Beelzebub to argue against Michigan GOP's plan to count ballots: report

Trump supporters in Michigan invoked one of the seven princes of Hell to argue against the state Republican Party's plan to count ballots from 3,000 to 4,000 delegates at its upcoming endorsement convention.

"Conspiracy theories peddled by some Michigan Republicans and allies of former President Donald Trump about voting machines in 2020 have come home to roost," the Detroit Free Pressreported Tuesday. "For years, the party has used voting tabulators to count the ballots at its conventions. GOP leaders advocated for the continued use of tabulating machines. But Republicans who champion debunked theories about voting machines — fantastical claims of vote switching, counting half of a vote or hacked tabulators — want the ballots counted by hand this time. The party is compromising: they’ll use tabulators, but a newly created 27-person audit committee will review the results by hand immediately after the machine count."

One group opposed to the plan invoked Satan.

"Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections — one of many groups pushing for a so-called "forensic audit" of the 2020 election — has blasted the GOP plan. 'Grassroots groups would sooner stare into the glowering, red eyes of Beelzebub than to allow a Dominion, ESS, or Hart tabulator to run its lecherous paws over their sacred ballots,' reads a recent email from the group, referring to companies that manufacture ballot tabulators targeted by Republican election conspiracies," the newspaper reported.

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There have been wild delusions about tabulation machines pushed by Trump supporters in Michigan.

"One of the GOP candidates seeking the party’s backing for attorney general — Matt DePerno — has fueled fanciful theories about vote manipulation by the Dominion tabulators used in Antrim County, the site of a brief tallying error on election night. He filed the lawsuit seeking a so-called forensic audit in Antrim County that served as a vehicle to advance tales of a conspiracy involving Dominion, theories relied on at times by Trump and his former attorney Rudy Giuliani," the newspaper reported.

In January, Trump praised DePerno, writing "he has energized the Republican base against the RINOs and Crooked Democrats, especially as it pertains to Election Integrity. I have fully endorsed Matt because of his past accomplishments as a warrior lawyer. He is exactly what Michigan needs!"

Former Michigan GOP executive director Jeff Timmer worries about chaos at the endorsement convention as losing candidates repeat Trump's talking points about voter fraud.

"I think that’s a guarantee: if they use the machines to count, somebody will demand hand recounts and they’ll be sitting there all day and into the next day going through these ballots over and over and over again," he said.
Republicans have been conditioned to claim an election was rigged when their preferred candidate loses, Timmer said. "It’s not just going to be when they lose to a Democrat."

Read the full report.